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Theory and Methods part 1 - Coggle Diagram
Theory and Methods part 1
Structuralism
: an approach focusing on the large-scale social structures and institutions and how these influence how people behave rather than individuals themselves. Structuralists believe society controls our lives.
Interpretavism
: an approach that starts at the level of the individual, focusing on small-scale social interaction and how individuals make sense of society and of social actions. Interpretavists believe individuals are in make and are in control of society
Consensus
: basic agreement on a set of shared values. This happens when all the groups in society have similar levels of wealth,status and power and people accept they all do. A society built on consensus will be stable and harmonious.
Conflict
: basic disagreement about important issues such as wealth, status and power. There's differences between groups and no overall set of shared values held by all groups. A society based on conflict will be unstable and even some groups in power can manage to supress other that challenge it
Functionalism
Functionalism is a sociological perspective based on a consensus view of society
Functionalists believe each part of society has functions that all help to keep the society working.
Examples:
The function of families is to socialise childreen into the norms and values of society so that the next generation will have these.
The function of prisions is to remove temporarily from society people who do not keep the laws and who therefore upset the smooth running of society
The function of schools is to give young people the skills they need for work, which helps the economy of society
Marxism
Marxism is a sociological perspective based on a conflict view of society
Marxist refer to the two main classes as the bourgeoisie (the owners of wealth and property) and the proletariat (the working class. They believe that the bourgeoisie exploit and opress the proletariat who are 'wage slaves'
Examples:
Schools ensure that some people fail and that they think this is their own fault so that then they accept a low position in society
The mass media distract people's attention from what is really going on and make people intrested only in celebreties, sport and trivial issues
Femenism
Femenism is a sociological perspective based on a conflict view of society
Femenists define the control of society by men as patriarchy. Femenists argue that it is men who have power in all aspects of society, in relationships, families, the world of work, education, etc.